


Fireflies

by Caslock



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 10:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caslock/pseuds/Caslock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a fic I wrote for satamoru, who is an amazing human being. I wasn't feeling particularly creative that night, so I just chose to detail my fiance and I's first date because I can and Johnkat is great okay</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fireflies

The funny thing about New Earth was that its day and night cycles were very different than those of Alternia. Days were much longer and the nights were too often filled with the light of its one measly moon. Because of this, the relocated trolls spent most of their time indoors, working night jobs and sticking together. They all lived in the same apartment complex, a few lived alone while the rest stuck with each other in groups of three or more. Mostly they sat in silence when they weren’t at work.

Karkat Vantas lived with his friends Sollux Captor and Gamzee Makara on the third floor, facing a busy street that ran in front of a deserted strip mall. He was preparing for a quiet night, since both of his roommates had work in a few hours. It had been a nightmare finding the trolls a job in the first place, but as it turned out, New Earth was beyond accepting of new species. When a familiar tag began harassing his computer screen, he sighed unnecessarily, garnering an annoyed look from Sollux, whom he simply threw his shoe at. 

—ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 19:14—

EB: hi karkat.  
EB: are you busy?  
CG: I’M INCREDIBLY FUCKING BUSY YOU STUPID ASSHOLE. WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT FROM ME NOW.  
CG: HAVE I NOT GIVEN YOU ENOUGH?  
CG: HERE, TAKE MY VALUABLE TIME AS WELL.  
EB: shut up dipshit you’re not busy at all.  
EB: i know this for a fact because you don’t have work tonight so you’re most likely just sitting around bored.  
CG: YOU CAUGHT ME, EGBERT. I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT YOU’RE SPYING ON ME. I HOPE YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOY THE BIT WHERE I’M IN THE BATHROOM LATER. THAT ONE’S ON YOU, BUDDY.  
CG: SERIOUSLY THOUGH, WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT.  
EB: i want you to come somewhere with me in like an hour.  
CG: THAT DOESN’T SOUND OMINOUS AT ALL.  
EB: :B  
EB: will you?  
CG: WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE GOING?  
EB: it’s a surprise!  
CG: YOU’RE A DICK.  
EB: come on it’ll be fun! when was the last time you got out of that apartment?  
CG: IT’S BEEN A COUPLE DAYS.  
EB: please?  
CG: FUCKING FINE. BUT FUCK YOU AND FUCK EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU.  
CG: ARE YOU GOING TO PICK ME UP OR SHOULD I MEET YOU AT WHEREVER DEBAUCH YOU’RE PLANNING ON HAVING THIS PIECE OF SHIT SHENANIGAN?  
EB: just meet me at the greenway in an hour.  
EB: and don’t be such a god damn grump about it.  
CG: FUCK OFF.

—ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 19:21—

Karkat pushed himself away from the computer, leaning back in his chair and proceeded to drag his hands across his face dramatically. The act earned another look of contempt from his bespectacled roommate.

“Mind your own fucking business you shit head,” he threw at him.

“I’ll mind it when you thtop cramming your drama in my fathe,” Sollux spat back.

Karkat rolled his eyes and stood up, stretching. He headed towards the bathroom, stripping his grimy clothes off of him as he went. Better to look decent during his visit with John.

One hour, five outfits, and two thrown shoes later, Karkat was in his car and speeding along towards the Greenway. Truth be told, he was a little nervous. He hadn’t seen John in a couple months. Sure, he’d talked to him more than occasionally and sometimes non stop, but they had avoided actually facing each other for reasons unknown. Perhaps they were known, but Karkat was the king of denial and circumventing.

The Greenway was exactly how it sounded: a mile long and a mile wide patch of grass, surrounded completely by a thick forest. There was one opening wide enough for a car to fit through, which was the only way to reach it. It was getting dark now, the sun just about dipping below the tree line, turning the sky into an orange wasteland that only looked beautiful because it wasn’t actually so. He parked next to the small grey station wagon that was John’s excuse for a mode of transportation, turned off his own vehicle, and clambered out.

John was sitting on the hood of his car, staring into the distance. He looked behind him when he heard the approach of another set of wheels and smiled when the troll stomped over to him. Karkat was dressed in dark blue jeans and a plain black shirt that fit him oddly. His hair looked as if he had attempted to comb it for once, a fact that made John’s stomach feel a bit silly. He promptly ignored it for the time being.

“Come on,” he commanded, hopping off his car with an alarming amount of grace and bounded towards a small fence. He jumped the last few feet, letting the wind underneath carry him up to perch on the topmost wooden tier. Karkat joined him, doing whatever the exact opposite of flying was, and slid between the slats to lean on the fence next to his friend.

“So what the fuck are we doing here?” he finally asked when he couldn’t see what John was staring at.

“It’s a surprise,” he said.

“Whatever,” the troll grumbled, folding his arms, “this had better be god damn worth it.” John laughed, leaning back dangerously. Karkat would have been alarmed if he didn’t know the kid could control the air.

“I hope so,” he confessed. A few more minutes of silence saw the sun set a little more. Dark shadows were beginning to cast themselves across the field. They twisted and begged to be seen.

“Filled any of your quadrants yet?” John asked. He hadn’t fully grasped the concept of troll romance yet, but thought it’d be polite to ask. Karkat had never adapted to New Earth the way his friends had. For the past year he had become even more bitter, a feat John would have never thought possible except for the fact that it happened. He knew the guy needed to be cheered up somehow.

“Fuck no,” Karkat replied heavily, “and I don’t expect to. Everyone’s off doing their own thing and I’m stuck here by my damn self.” He uncrossed his arms, letting them fall to his sides. The sky was really getting dark now. The stars were coming out to watch them, twinkling every so often at Karkat’s snide remarks.

John hummed. He strained his eyes against the now indistinct scene before him and finally gasped.

“The fuck?” Karkat started.

“No, no,” John hurried, scooting closer and wrapping one arm around the troll’s shoulders, “shut up now.” Karkat tensed a bit. He wasn’t adverse to John being so close and, he supposed, making contact, and now his confusion was overruling everything. Then, John put his hands on Karkat’s face, covering his eyes completely.

“John, what in the ev-“

“Shh!”

Karkat huffed to himself and placed his hands on the wooden slat behind him to control his balance. He could feel John incredibly close to him, his hair was tickling his ear a bit. The smell of spice and Dave’s aftershave and old school pranks rolled around him, making him dizzy.

Then John started to whisper, making Karkat take a deep breath because for a moment he almost forgot to.

“I really hope this makes you feel better, KK.”

When John’s hands disappeared and Karkat opened his eyes, the Greenway had gone completely dark. The only thing he could see were tiny pricks of light swirling around the air in front of him. Thousands of fireflies drifted lazily in serene patterns for at least a mile in every direction.

Karkat stepped forward carefully, holding his hands out for balance. The bugs eddied around him as he walked, clearly not quite caring about the gangly troll now swimming through their space. John followed close behind.

The troll held out a hand gingerly, letting the creatures dance and twirl and finally, one landed on his outstretched finger. He brought it back to his face, close enough so that it was bathed in a faint yellow glow. It got bored of sitting there and flew away, letting Karkat make the discovery that John was now inches from his face.

He dropped his hand quickly, only to find it entrapped in the goofy boy’s own. John gave him a shy smile and looked up at him.

“Do you feel better now?” he asked.

Karkat laughed lightly through his nose and shook his head a fraction, trying to clear it. He looked around a couple times at the stars that formed chaotic patterns with him and John as their sun.

“I, um-” he tried, but found his throat was too swollen. John nodded in understanding.

It made all the sense in the world at this point for there to be a violently interlocked couple in the midst of the most beautiful thing no one had ever seen.


End file.
